Good morning. Temperatures will be in the mid-20s throughout the state with partly sunny skies.
Here’s what we’re talking about in Maine today.
The largest union at Bath Iron Works is wrestling again with internal problems
–The executive board of Local S6 of the Machinists Union asked that a representative of the union’s parent organization review the local’s management to ensure that leaders are abiding by union rules. Mike Keenan, who returned as president of the shipyard local after being barred from running for four years, declined to comment on the request. In 2008, he and three other officers of the local chapter were escorted from the union hall amid claims of financial mismanagement and pornography being viewed on union-owned computers. The oversight requests comes as union members prepare for elections and contract negotiations later this year.
Maine will pay almost $1 million to staff a temporary call center as Medicaid expansion enrollment nears 9,000
–Gov. Janet Mills’ administration announced Monday that it would hire 45 people to staff a temporary call center in Wilton, where a bank card call center is closing later this month. The bulk hiring within DHHS to assist new MaineCare enrollees is the first since Mills signed an executive order on her first day in office directing the state to implement the Medicaid expansion law endorsed by voters in November 2017 but stalled by her predecessor, Republican Gov. Paul LePage.
Why did the chicken …? Police apprehended a hen on the lam in Belfast. Now they want to find her home.
–On Monday afternoon, Sgt. Dan Fitzpatrick of the Belfast Police Department shared a photo of a snow-white hen with a bright-red wattle and comb on Facebook, in hopes that her owner would turn up. The bird, which he believes to be a leghorn, looks a bit thin and has a touch of frostbite on the top of her comb. To claim the wayward chicken, call 207-338-2040.
Caribou senior basketball player fulfills promise to dying grandfather
–Austin Findlen vowed to his grandfather, Bill Findlen, that he and the Vikings would bring home a state championship. Findlen and his teammates fulfilled that promise by beating Cape Elizabeth in double overtime on Saturday for the program’s first state title since 1969.
Do this: Bangor Symphony Orchestra preps for a David Bowie-themed concert
–The Bangor Symphony Orchestra has found some success in recent years playing unconventional music from the Beatles, Queen, Elton John and Billy Joel. On Saturday, the orchestra will perform “Space Oddity: The Ultimate David Bowie Experience” with noted David Bowie impersonator David Brighton.
In other news …
Maine
Plane skids off runway, closing airport in Presque Isle
Portland pastry shop lauded for international style closes
Protected zone to help endangered right whales extended into mid-March
Bangor
Storm dumped 15 inches of snow on parts of eastern Maine
Find your stop on Bangor’s old trolley line
In Old Town, spruced-up facades and mill’s coming restart have brought new business
Politics
Why Republicans will likely factor into how lawmakers change Mills’ budget
Janet Mills taps Massachusetts energy leader for top Maine position
Gun control group targets Jared Golden
Opinion
Janet Mills moves Maine in right direction on climate change
Trump’s regulation-slashers gutting environmental protections
The biggest surprise from the Michael Cohen testimony
Sports
The most triumphant photos from the Maine basketball tourney state finals
Maine native thrives in new NASCAR TV analyst gig
Positive approach aided Bangor’s championship quest
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